Highlander of Steel (Breaking into Highland Hearts #1)

Chapter 1

“One more story!” the little girl pleaded, hands clasped. “Please?”

Ailis Lyall laughed from the doorway of her niece’s bedchamber and raised her eyes to the heavens with mock despair.

“I’ve read ye four stories already, wee mousie.

I daenae have any more to tell,” she said, her heart full.

“Ye see, what I have to do is sleep, and then in the mornin’, I’ll have dreamed a whole new collection of tales to tell ye. ”

Skye, four years old and as sweet as a kitten, tilted her head to the side in deep consideration. “Ye have to dream them first?”

“Of course,” Ailis replied with a smile. “Where do ye think they come from? They come from the land of dreams, which is where ye’re supposed to be. If yer faither catches ye awake, he’ll nae let me tell ye any more stories.”

It wasn’t the empty threat it should have been.

Ailis’s brother, Murdock, was just like their father, Shawn, the Laird of Clan Ainsley.

Anything fanciful wasn’t to be tolerated, whimsy was a dirty word, stories were no better than idle gossip, and if Ailis was the one filling Skye’s head with adventures and fairytales, then it was all the worse.

The little girl immediately lay down and pulled the coverlets up to her chin, big blue eyes peeking out above the finely woven wool. “Maybe I’ll dream of a story to tell ye,” came her muffled voice.

“Maybe,” Ailis replied, blowing a kiss to her precious niece. “Sleep well, tiny mouse.”

“Sleep well, big mouse,” Skye replied, and promptly squeezed her eyes shut.

Stepping out into the hallway, Ailis closed the door slowly, leaving it ajar, just the way Skye liked.

Murdock never heeded his daughter’s wishes to have a sliver of light so she wouldn’t be afraid in the night. Laird Ainsley had told him it was ridiculous and would lead to him having a weak-minded granddaughter. So, of course, Murdock had heeded him instead of his child.

Pleased by that minor rebellion, Ailis walked stealthily past her brother’s door, only quickening her pace once she was a safe distance from it. Their father slept in the north tower, so the ‘family hallway’ only had three permanent residents: Ailis, Murdock, and Skye.

She paused outside the room that had once belonged to her older sister, Kristen.

It had been five years since Kristen had left, now far away, suffering the role of wife to Laird Drummond. But Ailis always stopped, as if, just this once, her sister might be on the other side of it.

“Miss ye, Curly,” she whispered, using the comforting nickname. “Write to me soon, eh?”

With that prayer made, she continued toward her own room—the last one on the floor, tucked in the corner, at an angle to the main hallway.

She picked up the lantern that hung on a hook outside the door and turned the handle, already yearning for the comfort of warm blankets and furs.

Four weary steps into her bedchamber, and she knew she wasn’t alone.

Air rushed behind her. It was not the castle’s customary drafts and chills, but the pressure of someone moving. Quickly. Stealthily.

The faint click of the door closing sent a shiver up her spine. She wasn’t the one who had closed it.

Hand clenching the curved handle of the lantern, Ailis spun around and raised the glow upward, ready to swing the flickering flame and its glass cage at whoever might be standing there.

“How… are ye?” she gasped, her mind jumbling the words ‘how did you get in here’ and ‘who are you’ into the most ludicrous sentence when facing a potential assailant.

The stranger frowned, wintry blue eyes reflecting the flickering lantern light.

She had to raise the lantern a little higher to be able to see his face properly; the man was far taller than her, and she was not considered short by any means. He was taller than Murdock even, and broader too. Dark hair caught the light, tied back off his face in a warrior’s braids.

He was handsome.

The lantern cast shadows that sharpened his jaw and cheekbones, the ridge of his brow darkening the blue of his eyes. A scar cut across a fine, sloping nose, while short stubble framed full lips… that hadn’t yet said a word.

Do somethin’! Daenae just stand there like a hare with an arrow aimed at it!

Sucking in a breath, Ailis opened her mouth to scream.

She didn’t manage so much as a whimper. The stranger gently pressed his forefinger to her soft lips, a gesture so startling that the breath reserved for her scream puffed out uselessly around his finger.

Slowly, he shook his head. A first warning. There likely wouldn’t be another.

“Do ye mean to… k-kill me?” Ailis stammered, her lips moving against his skin like a kiss.

The stranger took a step closer, bringing more of his breathtakingly handsome face into the light. A pity, really, for he clearly had nothing pleasant in mind for her.

“I willnae have to if ye’re quiet,” he told her, his voice a gravelly, rough sound that sent another shiver in the opposite direction, beetling down her spine.

As if confident that she would do as he commanded, he slowly let his hand drop and took a half step back.

“What do ye want from me?” she couldn’t help but whisper, uncertain if her being quiet meant not saying anything at all. Or if he just didn’t want her to scream the castle down.

His eyes narrowed, confirming that he had meant no talking whatsoever. “We willnae stay here for long.”

He left her with those vague words as he strode past her and wandered further into the sanctity of her bedchamber, looking for something. Or so it seemed.

“I daenae have anything worth stealin’,” she said, while trying to convince herself that she had misheard the ‘we.’

He glanced back, his eyes flashing. “What part of quiet do ye nae understand?”

Before she could respond with something that would undoubtedly hasten her untimely demise, a loud knock sounded at the door. Ailis jumped in fright. Meanwhile, the stranger stood perfectly still with his finger to his lips, his eyes gleaming with a second warning.

“Ailis!” Murdock’s gruff voice reverberated through the wood. “I ken ye’re nae asleep yet. I heard ye walk past me door.”

Ailis swallowed, her hand falling onto her chest to try and slow her frantic heart. But her hand was trembling as violently as her heart was thudding, one encouraging the other.

She noticed the intruder looking at her shaking fingers and quickly clenched her hand into a fist. Whoever this man was, she was not going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her scared. If he came there to kill her, she would face it with at least a modicum of dignity.

“Aye, I’m nae asleep,” she replied in a calm voice that surprised her, “but I’m gettin’ ready to. What do ye want at such an hour?”

Please, daenae punish Skye for wantin’ me to read her some stories.

She heard Murdock huff before he answered, “Did ye take food to the captive again?”

Her eyebrows shot up. She hadn’t expected that.

“Ye told me nae to,” she replied.

“Aye, but since when have ye done as ye’re told?” Murdock countered curtly. “I swear, Ailis, if ye’ve been sneakin’ him food again, there’ll be trouble. Ye cannae starve secrets out of someone if they’re nae hungry!”

The intruder canted his head, a profound look of curiosity animating his previously stern face. It didn’t remove the danger Ailis knew she was in, but it softened his features ever so slightly, making her curious in turn.

Was this about the captive, then? About the fight last week? The MacNairns wanting an eye for an eye after the loss of their leader?

She couldn’t make out any clan colors on the man’s attire, but that wasn’t surprising. A MacNairn assassin wouldn’t simply wander into Castle Ainsley in full enemy regalia.

“Did ye feed him?” Murdock pressed.

The handle began to turn. Ailis lunged for it, keeping the door closed. Though she couldn’t fathom why, when there was a dangerous stranger in her room.

“Nay!” she shouted. “And I’m nae decent, so stay out there! Ye cannae just barge into me chambers, for pity’s sake!”

Murdock grumbled something indecipherable before adding sharply, “Good. Ye should be doin’ as ye’ve been told, so we daenae have to lock ye up again.” He paused. “In fact, if ye feed the captive again, ye will join him in there.”

There was a stilted pause, as though he was waiting for her to retort.

Ailis held her tongue, lowering her gaze so she wouldn’t have to look into the intruder’s inquisitive eyes.

“I daenae ken why I’m nae screamin’ for help, either,” she wanted to hiss at him, for it made no sense whatsoever.

Her brother was right outside the door—why was she not begging him for assistance? This intruder clearly wasn’t friendly. And, despite his threat, she was fairly certain that Murdock could barge into the room to defend her before the intruder could harm her. Yet, she said nothing.

Because, somehow, I’ll be blamed.

That was the nugget of truth at the core of her silence. Her father might even accuse her of conspiring with this man, whoever he was. Any excuse to punish her.

“Well,” Murdock said stiffly, “ye make sure ye stay in yer room.”

A moment later, her brother’s footsteps faded down the hallway. She waited until she couldn’t hear them anymore before she expelled the breath she’d been holding and raised her gaze to the intruder.

“Ye should leave. Quickly,” she said, wondering if, at long last, Castle Ainsley had turned her mad. It was the only reasonable explanation.

The intruder prowled toward her, catfooted despite his towering height and tremendous breadth. She might have backed away if there was anywhere to go, but a few steps would have had her pinned against the door. Besides, he was already in the closed room with her; there was nowhere to run.

He stopped, close enough to leave her breathless… and just a little bit scared.

“Ye listen as well as ye comprehend,” he said coolly, his movements slow, perhaps conscious of spooking her, as his hand closed around her wrist. “I already told ye, ye’re comin’ with me.”

A rough pull had her knocking into his hard chest, a curse hissing from between her teeth as her chin bumped against him. It was like hitting a solid wall; her eyes watered at the fleeting pain.

His arm snaked around her waist, holding her against him. “Ye’re mine,” he whispered, lowering his head until his cheek brushed her temple. “Now, will ye walk, or must I carry ye?”

At least twenty protests screeched through Ailis’s mind, but between the dizzying effect of hitting her chin, the unfamiliar intimacy of a strange, handsome man’s arm around her waist, and weighing up this man’s threat against her brother’s, she couldn’t muster a single argument. She wanted to, but nothing came out.

“Carry ye it is, then,” the man said.

Ailis tried for a scream, but found herself expelling a strained grunt as he heaved her up and threw her over his shoulder. Winding her.

How is he so strong?

Maybe it was an odd question to inwardly ask about a man as tall and broad as a bear standing on its hind legs, but she wasn’t exactly… liftable.

Throughout the rare gatherings that her father held at Castle Ainsley, she dreaded the moment someone would feel obliged to ask her to dance.

Reels had grown wilder over the years since she first attended a gathering, and involved plenty of lifting.

It was a chance for the men to show their strength and prowess by lifting the ladies effortlessly and spinning them around in the air.

Needless to say, the men who danced with Ailis often struggled, turning red with the effort. Or worse, forgoing lifting her altogether.

But this man had just picked her up as if she were a willowy waif, his breathing and gait not the least bit labored as he began to carry her out the door.

Wait…

Coming back to her senses to focus on the fact that she was about to be kidnapped, Ailis curled her hands into fists. With all of her might, she pounded on the hard, rippling muscles of his broad back as hard as she could.

Although she had the feeling that she was hurting her knuckles more than she was hurting him.

“Calm down, lass,” he said flatly. “I willnae hurt ye. If I wanted to do that, I’d have had a knife to yer throat the minute ye stepped into the room.”

Ailis paused.

She couldn’t argue with his logic. At any moment since she returned from Skye’s room, he could have harmed her.

With her brother outside the door, he could have done far worse things than flash her a warning stare to keep her silent.

Instead, he had just confidently and quietly assumed that she would do as she was told.

Ailis almost laughed.

If ye kent me better, ye’d understand how daft that is.

But, for some reason, he sounded convincing. Then again, people weren’t to be trusted. It was a conundrum.

Still, I shouldnae let him take me away from the castle, should I?

She gave his back another thump as she considered, scolding herself for not being better prepared.

Of course, she couldn’t let him kidnap her.

What would happen to Skye if she weren’t there to keep her sheltered?

No one else would play with her or read to her or tell her stories, or make sure that she felt loved.

Without Ailis, the little girl would be confined to her room, distracted now and then by a nursemaid, but otherwise alone.

“I willnae tell anyone ye were here if ye… just put me down and be on yer way,” Ailis wheezed, kicking out her legs and smacking him in the back.

They had made it down the hallway, away from her brother and niece’s chambers, headed toward the stairwell that spiraled all the way down to the lowest floor. If they managed to get to the entrance hall, Ailis figured the guards on duty would put a stop to this immediately.

“Sir, I’m of—” She was about to tell her kidnapper that she wasn’t of any value, if he was hoping to get a ransom out of her, when the door to Murdock’s room burst open.

Her brother’s pale blue eyes went wide at the sight before him. Evidently, he had been expecting to see her alone, sneaking out to slip some food to the prisoner in the dungeons. He certainly wouldn’t have expected to see her over a man’s shoulder, in the midst of being kidnapped.

“Halt!” Murdock roared.

The kidnapper glanced back for half a second and took off, his arm wound around Ailis like a vise. All she could do was hang on as he bolted down the staircase with her.